Synopses & Reviews
Rumpole fans rejoice a novel of the oft-mentioned but never revealed story of the barrister's first case.
Now more than ever, thousands of readers delight in the adventures of Horace Rumpole, but despite the publication of more than one hundred stories, his early years have remained shrouded in mystery until now.
In Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders, John Mortimer tells the story of Rumpole's very first case. Looking back a half century into a very different world, Rumpole recalls a man accused of murdering his father and his father's friend with a pistol taken from a dead German pilot. It was this trial and its outcome that put Rumpole on the map and began to shape him into the eccentric and cantankerous defender of justice and reciter of poetry readers know and love. Rumpole and the Penge Bungalow Murders is a must read for every Rumpole fan and a compelling invitation to new readers to get to know Mortimer's addictive barrister.
Review
"Masterful characterization and a spellbinding plot, filled with the arcane lore and intrigues of the Old Bailey, make this one a special treat for devoted Rumpoleans." Booklist (Starred Review)
Review
"The real and considerable joys here are watching Rumpole spread his wings and observing, in what passes for his courtship of Hilda, the seeds of his thrall to She Who Must Be Obeyed." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"All those tantalizing mysteries about how the grumpy sage of the Old Bailey got his start as a young barrister are revealed here....For anyone unfamiliar with this series, here's a charming way to begin." Marilyn Stasio, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"[The Rumpole books] are closer to Dickens than to Dennis Lehane....If you are the right sort of reader, the Rumpole books will delight you, and we must wish Sir John good health, good luck with his socks and many happy returns." The Washington Post Book World
Review
"A charming tale that shows why Mortimer and Rumpole remain beloved nearly 30 years after the irascible barrister was introduced in a radio play....It's fun, funny and even touching. A real treat." Detroit Free Press
Synopsis
The author tells the story of Rumpole's very first case which began to shape him into the eccentric and cantankerous defender of justice and reciter of poetry that readers know and love.
Synopsis
John Mortimer—novelist, playwright, memoirist, and the author of more than eighty Rumpole short stories—will never be forgotten. While still a practicing barrister, Mortimer took up the pen, and the rest is literary history. His stories featuring the cigar-chomping, cheap-wine-tippling Rumpole and his wife, Hilda (aka "She Who Must Be Obeyed"), have justly earned their place in the pantheon of mystery fiction legends, becoming the basis for the very successful television series Rumpole of the Bailey. Bringing fourteen of Rumpole's most entertaining adventures (seven of which were collected in The Best of Rumpole) together with a fragment of a new story, Forever Rumpole proves beyond a reasonable doubt that Rumpole is never less than delightful.
Synopsis
The Rumpole renaissance continues to build, and now the beloved barrister’s many followers have a special reason to rejoice: a sensational full-length Rumpole novel that at last relates the oft-mentioned but never revealed story of Rumpole’s first case, the Penge Bungalow affair. Looking back half a century into a very different world, Rumpole recalls a man accused of murdering his father and his father’s friend with a pistol taken from a dead German pilot. It was this trial and its outcome that put Rumpole on the map and shaped him into the cantankerous defender of justice that readers know and love. This is a must-read for every Rumpole fan and a compelling invitation to new readers.
About the Author
John Mortimer was the author of fourteen other Rumpole books, many of which formed the basis for the PBS-TV series Rumpole of the Bailey. The first book featuring his most famous character, Horace Rumpole, was published by Penguin in 1980. His work also includes many novels and plays and three acclaimed volumes of autobiography. A former barrister, Mortimer, who was knighted in 1998, lived in Oxfordshire, England. He died in January of 2009. Ann Mallalieu was the first woman president of the Cambridge Union. She has practiced at the Criminal Bar since 1970 and became a Queen’s Counsel in 1988. After becoming a Labour Life Peer, she was elected Peer of the Year by parliamentarians in 2004 and in the same year was named Peer of the Year by the Spectator. She lives near John Mortimer’s old house in the Chilterns.